Rubber tire and its attachment to wheels.



E. B. KILLEN. RUBBER TIRE AND ITS ATTACHMENT To WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 6.1912.

n0 1 9 n0 2 Pm 6 D d 6 t a D ,rm/fu/ jiffo rney 1 RUBBER TIRE AND ITSATTACHMENT To WHEELS.

Application filed January 6, 1912. Serial No. 669,754.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD BRICE KIL- LEN, asubject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at 52Queen Victoria street, London, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in or Relating to Rubber Tires and Their Attachmentto Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hollow rubber tires of rou hly triangularshape in cross section and avingra tread which remains of substantiallyconstant width with increase of load, in which the load is carried bythe rubber itself without the use of confined 'air at high pressures,such as in the ordinary pneumatic tire of today.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air. cushion .tirewhich besides possessing longer life has more resilience and give forabsorbing road shocks better than existing tires.

An aim of the invention is the production of a tire in which the rubberis not unduly stretched and in which wall cracking or disintegrationdoes not take place under road wear and tear. N

Another object of the invention is the provision of an efficientnon-skid tread.

Furtheradvantages achieved by the invention will be hereinafterdescribed.

According to the invention the air chamber of the tire is made airtight, confining air at normal pressure or at a pressure which will notinterfere with the action of the tire in the manner hereinafterdescribed. The air chamber is made airtight by airtight joints formed byjamming or wed 'ng extended toes, with which the beads o the tire areprovided, between an endless retaining rim and the outer circumferenceof the wheel. The tire is of such a shape and proportion that the loadforces act down the walls and internally cause the walls to bend orhinge inwardly, or, in other words, the walls'thicken and bulge into theair chamher so that thebase angles of the walls are decreased.

Further features ofthe invention will hereinafter appear.

The employment of confined air at low pressure in conjunction with atire of the cross section according to this invention, secures thenecessary s eed of recovery to normal of thetire after 1t has beendepressed by load or road shocks, which cannot be ob- Speciflcation ofLetters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 19116..

pression or shock under ordinary work and consequently tegrate. V

In the accompanying drawings, the figure is a cross section of part of awheel carrying a tire according to the invention, the lower half of thefigure showing the tire depression in ground contact.

"In carrying out the invention according to one mode, my tire ismanufactured of rubber without fabric, homogeneous and without porosity.The tread 1 is provided with a flat treading circumference and so thatit does not substantially increase in width in ground contact withincrease of load. This typeof tread may be hereinafter referred. to asan upstanding tread. The treading circumference is formed narrow ascomlpared with thebase of the tire, giving great ateral stability underall conditions, and may be provided with a plurality of circumferentialribs 2 (see Fig. 1) or the tread may be molded of'any other suitableform to prevent skidding or slipping.

The tire is provided with side walls 3 the tire would rapidly disinwhichjoin the tread 1 to base heads 4:. The

walls 3 of the tire inclose between them the air chamber 5 of the tire.The walls are so arranged that the internal shape of the air chamber 5in cross section is gable-like or trian lar. The part 3 at which theupstanding tread 1 joinsthe walls 3 of the tire (see Fig. 1) may bereferred to as the neck.

Each bead 4 of the tire is molded with an annular rib 6 adapted to beengaged by a hooking flange and with an inwardly extending annularrubber flange 7. The an nular rubber ribs 6 and the rubber flange 7' maybe herein referred to as hooking heels and extended toes as these partspresent somewhat the appearance of a heel and a .toe when the tire isviewed in cross section.

Upon the outer surface of the walls 3 and above or outside the heels 6,annular fIanges or heads 8 are molded. These beads '8 they are appliedwhile at the same strengthen the walls at the part at which time theyprotect the metal flanges of the wheel from damage against a curb orstone. They also cause the rubber of the tire to flow inward instead ofoutward at all times under load or shocks thereby assisting inpreventing outward bulging of the walls.

The sectional height of a tire for, say, a 23 to 30 cwt. vehicle fromthe treading circumference to'the inner circumference of the base may beabout 3 to 4 inches. The width of the base from the outer side of oneheel to the outer side of the other, when the retaining rim (to bedescribed) is fitted inside the tire, may be say 4.} to 5 inches. Thewidth of the treading circumference may be,

'for instance, 2 to 3 inches with a depth between the apex of the airchamber and the outer surface or treading circumference of the tread, ofabout 1-; inches. It is preferred to form the tire so that the width atthe neck is substantially the same or slightly less than the width ofthe base or widest part of the air chamber when the retaining rim is inposition so that there is no substan-' tial vertical zone of rubberthrough which the load forces could be transmitted directly to the bedof the wheel. The existence of a zone such as this would tend to preventthe inward bending of the walls.

The means of airtight attachment for the tire may comprise a flangedbonding rim 9, a detachable side flange 11, a retaining rim 10 (eachbeing constructed of steel), and attachment bolts. The flanged bondingrim 9 consists of a bed portion 12 fixed to'the outer circumference ofthe folly 13, aflanged portion 14, extending inward as shown and ahooked flange 15 for hooking the heels 6 of the tire. The detachableside flange 11 is formed with an inwardly extending flange 16 for thepurpose of guiding the side flange into position when attaching. Thisportion 16 also serves to key the side flange to the felly, when inosition, thus relieving strain from the attac ment bolts. The sideflange has a hooked part or flange 17 for engaging thc'left hand hookingheel 6 and a bed portion, intermediate the hook 17 and the inward flange16 adapted to lie against the flange 14 when the attachment device isclamped up.

The retaining rim 10 is made'endless and indistortable, the edgesthereof being curved or rounded. This rim is floated within the" airchamber 5 upon the extended toes 7, being fitted into the tire beforethe latter is placed upon the wheel. When the retaining or floating rim10 is in position the air chamber 5 is closed, so that a complete tubeof gable-like or triangular cross section is formed. This tube is sealedas will hereinafter appear when the tire is secured upon the wheel andof course for this purpose the retaining rim 7 must be formed absolutelyairtight.

The attachment bolts 18, preferably twelve in number, may beprovidedwith feet 19 for engaging the outer side of the detachable flanges 11.The other ends of the bolts are provided with nuts and washers. Thebolts pass through the felly and through orifices provided for thepurpose in the flanges 1 1 and 11.

The tire is attached and the continuous air chamber made airtight in thefollowing manner: The retaining rim 10 is fitted inside the tire so thatit lies upon the toes 7 as shown in the drawing. The tube tire thusformed is pushed over the bed 12 of the wheel rim 9 so that the heel 6is hooked under the flange 15. The toes 7 are keyed beneath theretaining rim (which floats upon the rubber) and the bed 12 of the wheelrim. The detachable side flange 11 is then fitted to the left base bead4 being guided into position by its inwardly extending flange 16. Theportion 17 of the detachable flange 11 hooks the heel 6. The attachmentbolts are now passed through the felly and their nuts screwed up. Thisaction clamps and locks,the two beads under uniform compression overtheir whole circumferential area of the wheel, jamming or wedging thetoes 7 between the retaining rim l0 and the bed 12 of the wheel rim 9.The jamming of the toes squeezes the rubber thereof and forms a uniformairtight joint all around the wheel between the inner and outercircumferences of the toes and the retaining rim and the bed 12 of thewheel rim 9. It will be understood that as the retaining rini10 isfloated, it can move and adjust itself to any inequalities of the rubberso that the airtight joints are formedclamping of the beads undercompression between the hooking flanges forms a suitable support uponwhich the hinging or bending of the walls can take place, and at thesame time, locks the beads in position so that any tendency of the tireto creep is entirely prevented.

When the tire comes into ground contact, the load forces acting throughthe upstanding tread are directed down the walls and inwardly toward themiddle of the air chamber, (see lower portion of the drawing). Theforces acting down the walls tend to compress them while the forcesacting internally bend or cause the walls to hinge inwardly about theirbase beads. As the load or shock increases, so the walls continue tobulge inwardly while the rubber in the walls is put under furthercompression by the reactive efi'ect of the inward bending. The greatgive which the tire possesses owing to .Icl

this bending action enables a very long circumferential ground contactto be obtained with increase of wall to carry-the load so that the loadis efficiently distributed over the whole wall area of the part of thetire in ground contact as already described in'the fore front of thespecification. It is pointed out that when under load, the outer surfaceof the tread is put in compression owing to the inward bending of thetire. Thisprevents the tread from being cut or easily wor in running.The narrow compressed treaii with its long circumferential groundcontact and sharp cutting edges form a very effective non-skid tire.

Having now described my invention, what toes on which toes the endlessmetal rim is airtightly floated and an endless metal bonding rim formedwith two hooking flanges and separated from the floating endless metalrim by an annular narrow space, the extended toes lying jammed in saidannular narrow space between the floating endless metal rim and theendless metal bonding rim aim as new and desire to secure by Lettit andforming airtight joints with the floating rim and the bonding rim ontheouter and inner circumferences of the toes, as set forth.

2. A rubber tire having an annular air chamberof gable-like crosssection which is not inflated and has a base constituted by a floatingendless metal rim which is in itself airtight, means for making said airchamber airtight, said means comprising base-beads with booking heelsand extended rubber toes on which" toes the endless metal rim isairtightly floated and an endless bonding rim having hooking flanges andseparated from the floating endless metal rim by an annular narrowspace, the extended toes lying Jammed in said annular narrow spacebetween the floating endless rim and the endless bonding rim and formingairtight joints with the floating rim and also with the bonding rim andannular strengthening beads (8) provided on the tire outside the hookingheels in the proximity of the hooking flanges of the bonding rim, forthe purpose of en ablin'g the fabricless rubber walls to flow inwardinstead of outward forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two-subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD BRICE KILLEN. Witnesses:

BERTRAM HARRY MATTHEWS, HERBERT D. JAMESON.

under load, as set

